Essay On Street Gangs

As claimed by Gardner (1992, p. 83) “Gangs came into existence and flourish because the needs of the young people in a neighbourhood or culture or family are not being met. The Gang, in essence, fills the void.” In today’s society there are a variety of different types of gangs which have affected the society on different ways. Street gangs, according to Klein (as cited in Carlie, 2002) are a “semi structured groups of adolescents and young adults who engage in felonious and criminal behavior.” This kind of Gang is very popular in the United States and is responsible for illegal selling of drugs and also turf wars which have heightened murder rates in many cities and communities. Many have pondered why individuals join street gangs and participate

Some will argue that the main causes of the formation of street gang is economic factors and some might equally argue that it is political influences that fuel the formation of street gangs, but it goes beyond the two

Also Family history or traditions play a significant role in the formation of street gangs in the United States.

(A) When considering why young people engage in felony one of the most common focal points is the family. Familial structure and composition, and the quality of the parent–child relationship have all come under examination in attempts to explain antisocial and criminal behaviour in young people. In particular, it is the idea that the ‘problem’ family, as opposed to the ‘normal’ family, creates the root for delinquency that dominates the discourse in this area. (Young, T et al 2008).

(B) Some researchers have claimed that families’ positive attitudes towards gangs encourages young people to become involved in gang groups (Maxson and Whitlock, 2002) and promotes intergenerational gang membership (Rutter and Giller, 1983; Thornberry et al, 2003). Studies conducted by Moore (1991) and Vigil (1988) show a history of intergenerational gang membership amongst families in Los Angeles. (Young, T et al